Doctor Diplomacy: American-Russian Cancer Alliance... No Reset Required
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Did you know that Tuesday February 4th was World Cancer Awareness Day, a time to reflect and have conversations about managing the impact of the disease known as “the silent killer?”
To celebrate World Cancer Awareness Day activists on Facebook suggested users of the social utility put their photo inside a purple box, the color purple being the color of the 24 hours that designate World Cancer Day. Not many people took time out from their day to do that.
There are a lot of time slots out there relating to cancer that are competing for attention and funding. Next month, March, is Colon Cancer Awareness Month in the United States. April is Bowel Cancer Awareness Month in Great Britain. A few years ago the Chelsea football team in the English Premier League, owned by Roman Abramovich, got involved supporting the bowel cancer month but with little success.
By the time you read this, World Cancer Awareness Day will have moved out of the news cycle. Today, February 5th is World Nutella Day, a celebration that promotes the sweet, chocolate-like food many people like to spread on crackers, or eat right out of the jar. It tastes good. But for some people, it can send their glycemic index into the stratosphere. When people eat Nutella the gratification is so great that it creates neurochemical responses that block out unpleasant realities like cancer.
Cancer research makes progress, not buzz
The American-Russian cancer alliance since 2001 has been quietly working to find new approaches grounded in hard science to manage what many experts call the epidemic proportions of cancer. The work of the group deserves more attention and more funding.
The Blokhin Cancer Research Institute in Moscow is one of the Russian participants in the alliance. In the United States the Fox Chase Cancer Institute and the National Institutes of Health are the major participants.
For younger generations who are apt to focus on social media theories, there is the risk that they will give peer recognition to concepts like data science and even fake science. It is important to take the time and examine the history. Medical sciences like the development of surgical instruments and nuclear medicine started before the advent of the internet as we know it and the alliance has contributed to the progress regardless of the tenor of Moscow-Washington relations.
For example, few people are aware that Russian doctors and other experts perfected the circular stapling device that is used to reconnect the bowel during colorectal cancer surgery. The development has simplified the overall surgical procedure and in doing so has made it more available to patients worldwide. Colorectal cancer is number three in terms of worldwide incidence after lung cancer and breast cancer. In 2012 the World Cancer Research Fund reported that 1.4 million cases were diagnosed in 2012.
Halting the cancer epidemic requires more funding now
There are some on the internet who deny that cancer has not reached epidemic proportions. But in Brazil, the Brazilian National Cancer Institute reports estimates that 554,000 new cases of cancer will be diagnosed this year. If that projection holds stable Brazil will experience 5.54 million cases of cancer over the next decade (2014-2013).
In the United States the National Cancer Institute predicts that the cost of cancer treatment in 2020 will reach $153 billion dollars annually. As a measurement, that amount, just one year, equals ten $15 billion loans like the one the Russian Federation has organized to assist Ukraine. Where will the money come from?
The World Health Organization claims that 30 percent of all cancer cases worldwide can be prevented through education, screening and early detection. That costs money too.
Cancer is an existential reality. Medical science is committed to improving the human condition. The current enthusiasm for Cold War-style media posturing seems petty by comparison.
That's all I've got to share with everybody today. Comments and critiques are welcome.
Note: You can read more about the Alliance participants and one of its key players in Moscow, the Blokhin Cancer Research Center by clicking these links
http://www.fccc.edu/research/themes/arca/members.html
http://ecancer.org/institute/52-blokhin-russian-cancer-research-centre.php
